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"THE UNBORN" (2009) (Odette Yustman, Gary Oldman) (PG-13) Alcohol/ Drugs Blood/Gore Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude Frightening/ Tense Scenes Guns/ Weapons Mild Heavy Extreme *Extreme Moderate Imitative Behavior Jump Scenes Music (Scary/Tense) Music (Inappropriate) Profanity Mild Heavy Extreme None Heavy Sex/ Nudity Smoking Tense Family Scenes Topics To Talk About Violence Heavy None Heavy Moderate Heavy QUICK TAKE: Horror: A young woman must contend with a spirit that's haunted her family through the generations and now has targeted her. PLOT: Casey Beldon (ODETTE YUSTMAN) is an average, college-aged young woman with a good friend in Romy (MEAGAN GOOD) and a loving boyfriend, Mark (CAM GIGANDET). Yet, she's still haunted by the death of her institutionalized mother, Janet (CARLA GUGINO), a few years back, and she worries that she might end up like her. That's particularly true when she starts having troubling nightmares and what initially appear to be hallucinations featuring a ghastly boy, Barto (ETHAN CUTKOSKY), not to mention Matty (ATTICUS SHAFFER), a real kid she babysits but has unnerved her of recent. When she ends up at the eye doctor when her irises start changing after the boy strikes her on the head, she's informed that she's a likely twin, much to her surprise. Her father (JAMES REMAR) confirms that her twin brother died in utero, a discovery that leads her to look through her mother's belongings where she finds a newspaper clipping about Holocaust survivor Sofi Kozman (JANE ALEXANDER). That nursing home resident initially offers no info, but eventually changes her mind as she feels she must inform Casey of what's really occurring. And that is that a demonic spirit of Jewish folklore, a dybbuk, has been after Casey's family for generations, stemming from Nazi atrocities back at Auschwitz. Her advice is for Casey to contact Rabbi Sendak (GARY OLDMAN) who agrees to attempt to perform an exorcism -- with the help of minister Arthur Wyndham (IDRIS ELBA) and others -- and finally rid the young woman of the progressively dangerous demon once and for all. WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT? If they're fans of anyone in the cast or supernaturally based horror films, they might be interested. WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: PG-13 For intense sequences of violence and terror, disturbing images, thematic material and language including some sexual references. CAST AS ROLE MODELS: ODETTE YUSTMAN plays a college-aged young woman who comes to realize that she's being haunted by a supernatural entity, resulting in all sorts of creepy hallucinations and encounters (that initially have her fearing she's going crazy like her mother in the past). She has sex with her boyfriend, and uses a little profanity. GARY OLDMAN plays a rabbi who agrees to look into what's troubling Casey and helps perform an exorcism in hopes of it ridding her of the demon. MEAGAN GOOD plays Casey's sassy best friend who initially doesn't believe anything's happening, but is eventually convinced. She uses profanity (some of it briefly strong). CAM GIGANDET plays Casey's supportive boyfriend who has sex with her at her house while her father is away. ATTICUS SHAFFER plays a boy who Casey babysits and begins acting strangely, all due to being possessed by the demon spirit. JANE ALEXANDER plays a resident of a nursing home who turns out to be Casey's grandmother who has knowledge of what's haunting her granddaughter, all stemming back from the woman's time as a girl imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp. IDRIS ELBA plays a minister who agrees to help Rabbi Sendak perform the exorcism. ETHAN CUTKOSKY plays the ghostly/demonic kid figure who repeatedly haunts Casey and kills others. CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit? Then read OUR TAKE of this film. (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below). OUR WORD TO PARENTS: Here's a brief summary of the content found in this horror film that's been rated PG-13. Profanity consists of at least 1 "f" word, while other expletives and colorful phrases are also uttered. Sexually related dialogue is present, as is the sight of a young couple in bed post-sex, as well as that of a young woman in very small/tight "boy shorts" underwear, and a hole in a bathroom stall wall normally used for anonymous male oral sex (although it's not used for that here). Regular and supernaturally based violence is present (a stabbing, some fighting, paranormal powers used to injure or kill others, a possessed boy is hit by a car but is okay, etc.), and some of that has bloody results. Those scenes, standard scary movie material, various ghastly and/or gory visuals, and moments of potential peril might be unsettling, suspenseful and/or scary to viewers. Some behavior might be enticing for some kids to imitate, and tense family material is present. There's some drinking as well as bad attitudes (and some viewers might not like the Holocaust and Nazi medical experiments being trivialized by being used as a pivotal plot point for causing supernatural events). If you're still concerned about the film and its appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home who may be interested in seeing it, we suggest that you take a closer look at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content. For those concerned with bright flashes of light on the screen, there's a brief strobe effect in a nightclub. For those prone to visually induced motion sickness, some camera movement and distorted imagery are present. ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE Romy tells Casey if she were her, she'd take one of her mom's Xanax pills. Casey's friends order drinks in a club. While Casey tells Mark she won't have any, we then see her carrying one. After Casey tells Romy of a creepy encounter, Romy tells Casey that the latter was drunk and buzzed (this refers to the above entry, but doesn't appear to be an accurate assessment). BLOOD/GORE Romy isn't nice or respectful about the conditions in a nursing home, complaining about it smelling like diarrhea and pointing out in shock that a stroke victim is wearing a diaper. Casey vomits into a toilet, and later has an encounter with sewage that spews through a hole in the stall wall and then covers the floor, etc. Casey has a nightmare where she finds herself on the ceiling, looking down on herself sleeping in bed. Just then, the covers move back to reveal Barto who partially raises her top to expose her bare belly into which he pushes his hands down through her skin (no blood). Casey has a dream where she slowly walks up toward her mom who's seated in a chair in the psychiatric hospital, head down. When Casey gets closer, the figure then looks up, revealing a ghastly sight, with half of the head missing, all gooey looking and with what appear to be long, sharp teeth. We see blood on the knife that Matty uses to stab Romy in the gut, with her clothes resultantly being bloody. In a hallucination, Casey again sees the woman with the ghastly and gory half-head, with open "mouth" and long, sharp teeth. Mark's bloody after a bad fall, and Casey has some of his blood on her hands. DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE The demon obviously has a bad attitude for haunting Casey and killing others, etc. About Romy saying that infants shouldn't see their reflection for the first year of their life, Mark says, "You're retarded." Romy isn't nice or respectful about the conditions in a nursing home, complaining about it smelling like diarrhea, pointing out in shock that a stroke victim is wearing a diaper, and later commenting on Sofi having Alzheimer's (which isn't true). Some viewers might not like the film using the Holocaust and Nazi medial experiments resulting in supernatural events as a pivotal plot point in the story. FRIGHTENING SCENES Scenes listed under "Violence," "Blood/Gore" and "Jump Scenes" may be unsettling, suspenseful or scary to younger viewers and/or those with low tolerance levels for such material. The overall concept of and material related to a demonic spirit after Casey and others might have the same effect. While jogging, Casey comes across a glove on the street, and then turns to see a creepy-looking Barto standing there. She then sees a dog wearing what looks like a mask, and then finds that in the woods where she starts to dig. She then finds a fetus buried in some sort of case, and its eyes suddenly open (this turns out to be a dream). While babysitting, Casey hears a voice on the baby monitor and goes to investigate, slowly walking up and into the bedroom. She finds young Matty standing over his baby sister's crib, trying to get her to look into the mirror he's holding. When Casey tries to stop him, Matty slams the glass into the side of her head. Casey hears a noise in the bathroom at night, slowly goes to investigate, and finds nothing. But after she leaves, we see the medicine cabinet mirror start to shake a bit. Casey cracks an egg open into a frying pan, with a large insect (reportedly a potato bug) falling out and into that, startling her. Casey starts to hallucinate in class, with distorted visions showing "Jumby wants to be born now" written on the blackboard as well as repeatedly on sheets of paper. An eye doctor places an eye speculum on Casey's eyelid to keep that open while taking photos of her eye. Casey sees Barto again, unnerving her. Casey hears a noise in the bathroom, and slowly goes in there, opening the medicine cabinet mirror but finding nothing. She then hears that again, and thus opens the mirror once again, this time startled by an image of Barto there, screaming. Casey learns that her twin brother died in utero, and that his nickname was "Jumby," the same name she's being haunted with. Casey sees an old photo of Sofi where Barto shows up in the image. Casey watches an old film that shows the point of view of moving toward the psychiatric room where her mother killed herself in the past. Casey has distorted visions in a nightclub, including a view of Barto through the masses of dancing people. She then approaches him and he lets out a bloodcurdling scream. After vomiting in a public toilet, Casey hears sounds from another stall and goes to look through a "glory hole" (a hole in the wall used by men to receive anonymous oral sex from one stall to the next). Instead of that, however, sewage and big insects come pouring out and then across the floor, while what looks like huge insect legs wiggle through a big hole in another wall. The other stall door then opens, and out walks her dead and distressed-looking mom. Casey has a nightmare where she finds herself on the ceiling, looking down on herself sleeping in bed. Just then, the covers move back to reveal Barto who partially raises her top to expose her bare belly into which he pushes his hands down through her skin (no blood). In a flashback, we see young Sofi and her twin brother Barto in a Nazi concentration camp where they were singled out for being twins. We hear Sofi comment in the present about the Nazis performing experiments on them, including regarding trying to achieve blue eye collar, and we see a man take a large needle toward Barto's eye, but we don't see the contact (but do see his resultant dead body covered by a sheet, with the boy then sitting up and coming back to life two days later). Casey watches the above old film of her mom's psychiatric hospital again, but this time there are images of a dog in the shots, as well as the sounds of screams. Romy accidentally hits Matty with her car, with the boy flipping over the windshield and roof. She gets out but finds the boy is okay, although he warns her that Barto doesn't want her helping Casey and will kill her if she does. Casey has a dream where she slowly walks up toward her mom who's seated in a chair in the psychiatric hospital, head down. When Casey gets closer, the figure then looks up, revealing a ghastly sight, with half of the head missing, all gooey looking and with what appear to be long, sharp teeth. Sofi hears a sound in her nursing home room, but then discovers that none of the lights work. She slowly goes to investigate, finding a stroke victim in a wheelchair, but she continues on, ending up in the stairwell. She then hears more sounds and goes back to find the wheelchair on its side at the top of one landing. She then sees that now mobile stroke victim crawling up the stairs toward her in a herky-jerky fashion. He then stops and his head slowly twists upside down one-hundred and eighty degrees and then crawls crab-like after her. She flees, but ends up tumbling down some steps before hiding in a closet. She then see the shadow (under the door) of that creature approaching and then passing by, followed by Barto's ghastly face suddenly being by her. The lights go out on Rabbi Sendak who slowly goes to investigate, with his flashlight then also going out. He then enters an auditorium to find papers flying about as well as a dog standing there, its head turned upside down and growling at him. He shouts for it to leave and it backs up and then disappears. On a video conference call, Casey sees an image of Barto in the background of Romy's room after she leaves to answer the door. Casey then calls Mark and both race to Romy's house where the lights have gone out. Romy doesn't see anyone at the door and thus opens it, only to have Matty stab her in the gut with a large knife. She then tries to crawl up the steps, with him slowly pursuing her (with his possessed face looking all ghastly, etc.). Mark then throws his body through a glass door and stops the kid, nearly punching him until Casey realizes the boy is no longer possessed, what with Romy's body suddenly convulsing and turning monstrous. During the big exorcism, there are supernatural sounds, followed by a door flung open with resultant strong winds, and views of Barto. In a hallucination, Casey again sees the woman with the ghastly and gory half-head, with open "mouth" and long, sharp teeth. The demon possess Mark who bashes his head repeatedly to a wall during the transformation, and then grabs Casey by the throat and lifts her off the floor that way. A large insect then starts to crawl from his mouth, allowing Casey to stab a star pendant into his neck. She and Rabbi Sendak then recite prayers that cause Mark's body to be blasted back off a balcony to the floor far below, leaving him bloody (he appears to die from that). GUNS/WEAPONS We see blood on the knife that Matty uses to stab Romy in the gut. IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR Phrases: "F*ck off, you little sh*t," "Psycho-babble bullsh*t," "Those glasses are definitely giving me wood" (erection), "Shut up, for real," "Jumby wants to be born now," "That's creepy," "You're retarded," "I'm such a pain in the ass right now," "I don't know, dude," "Screws," "Way too bizarro," "What the hell was that?" "A bitch-flip," "Freaked out," "You're a freak" and "Hag." The various scares might be enticing for some kids to try to imitate. We see a montage of Casey bashing and breaking various mirrors following advice from Sofi to do so. We see miscellaneous graffiti in a public bathroom and then later in an abandoned psychiatric hospital. JUMP SCENES In a dream, an unearthed fetus' eyes suddenly open. Casey cracks an egg open into a frying pan, with a large insect (reportedly a potato bug) falling out and into that, startling her. Casey hears a noise in the bathroom, and slowly goes in there, opening the medicine cabinet mirror but finding nothing. She then hears that again, and thus opens the mirror once again, this time startled by an image of Barto there, screaming. A sudden passing train in a scene transition might startle some viewers. Casey has a dream where she slowly walks up toward her mom who's seated in a chair in the psychiatric hospital, head down. When Casey gets closer, the figure then looks up, revealing a ghastly sight, with half of the head missing, all gooey looking and with what appear to be long, sharp teeth. Barto's ghastly face is suddenly by Sofi in a closet. Matty suddenly stabs Romy in the gut. MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE) An extreme amount of suspenseful, ominous and scary music plays in the film. MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE) None. PROFANITY At least 1 "f" word, 4 "s" words, 1 ass, 1 hell, 6 uses of "Oh my God," 3 of "God," 2 of "My God" and 1 use of "Oh God." SEX/NUDITY It sounds like Romy makes some joking comment about Casey's vagina regarding her dream of unearthing a fetus in the woods. While Casey babysits, Romy jokingly asks her over the phone if she thinks the father has any porn in his video collection. Casey responds that she doesn't want to think about what he "beats off" to, with Romy adding that it's clearly not his wife. We see a rear view of Casey standing in the bathroom in a camisole and small, formfitting "boy shorts" type underwear. We then see her bare back while she's in bed with the sheets up over her chest. We see Casey's bare back as she showers, and then her and another young woman in just towels in the locker room. Casey tells Mark that her dad won't be home until the morning, prompting him to jokingly tell her (about some eye doctor sunglasses she's wearing) that those glasses "are definitely giving me wood." We next see them in bed, presumably post-sex, with her head on his bare chest while she has a sheet around hers, blocking any upper nudity. We see Casey in her tight, formfitting boy shorts underwear and tight camisole again. We later see Mark in just his boxers. Casey's friends show cleavage in a club. Casey shows some cleavage. After vomiting in a public toilet, Casey hears sounds from another stall and goes to look through a "glory hole" (a hole in the wall used by men to receive anonymous oral sex from one stall to the next). Instead of that, however, sewage and big insects come pouring out and then across the floor. Casey has a nightmare where she finds herself on the ceiling, looking down on herself sleeping in bed. Just then, the covers move back to reveal Barto who partially raises her top to expose her bare belly into which he pushes his hands down through her skin (no blood). Casey shows cleavage in a low-cut top. Casey learns she's pregnant from a past sexual encounter with Mark, and we see a partial flashback to their encounter (nothing graphic or explicit). We see Casey's bare belly as a sonogram is used on her. SMOKING None. TENSE FAMILY SCENES We see a flashback to Casey's mom in a psychiatric hospital, with Casey commenting on visiting her that day when the mom later committed suicide via hanging (not seen). We hear that Matty's baby sister is dead, and see the hysterical, grieving mother as the sheet-covered gurney is wheeled out. Casey learns that her twin brother died in utero, and Casey asks her dad if that's why her mom killed herself (he says no). Casey watches an old film that shows the point of view of moving toward the psychiatric room where her mother killed herself in the past. Casey worries that she'll end up going crazy like her mom. Sofi states her young twin brother died in Auschwitz in 1994, the result of Nazi "twins" experiments on him and her. She adds that he came back to life two days later, albeit possessed by a demonic spirit. Casey is upset to learn that her just recently discovered grandmother has been killed. TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT Ghosts, demons, hauntings and exorcisms. We see a flashback to Casey's mom in a psychiatric hospital, with Casey commenting on visiting her that day when the mom later committed suicide via hanging (not seen). Casey worries that she'll end up going crazy like her mom. The comment that mirrors are the doorway to another (supernatural) world. VIOLENCE While babysitting, Casey hears a voice on the baby monitor and goes to investigate, slowly walking up and into the bedroom. She finds young Matty standing over his baby sister's crib, trying to get her to look into the mirror he's holding. When Casey tries to stop him, Matty slams the glass into the side of her head. We hear that Matty's baby sister is dead, and see the hysterical, grieving mother as the sheet-covered gurney is wheeled out. It's implied that the possessed boy did the killing. Casey has a nightmare where she finds herself on the ceiling, looking down on herself sleeping in bed. Just then, the covers move back to reveal Barto who partially raises her top to expose her bare belly into which he pushes his hands down through her skin (no blood). In a flashback, we see young Sofi and her twin brother Barto in a Nazi concentration camp where they were singled out for being twins. We hear Sofi comment in the present about the Nazis performing experiments on them, including regarding trying to achieve blue eye collar, and we see a man take a large needle toward Barto's eye, but we don't see the contact (but do see his resultant dead body covered by a sheet, with the boy then sitting up and coming back to life two days later). We see a montage of Casey bashing and breaking various mirrors following advice from Sofi to do so. Romy accidentally hits Matty with her car, with the boy flipping over the windshield and roof. She gets out but finds the boy is okay, although he warns her that Barto doesn't want her helping Casey and will kill her if she does. While we don't see the act, Barto kills Sofi. On a video conference call, Casey sees an image of Barto in the background of Romy's room after she leaves to answer the door. Casey then calls Mark and both race to Romy's house where the lights have gone out. Romy doesn't see anyone at the door and thus opens it, only to have Matty stab her in the gut with a large knife. She then tries to crawl up the steps, with him slowly pursuing her (with his possessed face looking all ghastly, etc.). Mark then throws his body through a glass door and stops the kid, nearly punching him until Casey realizes the boy is no longer possessed, what with Romy's body suddenly convulsing and turning monstrous. During the exorcism, Barto uses supernatural powers to blast a helper back against a wall, bend a woman backwards and nearly in half, send some portable lights crashing into Rabbi Sendak, and a gurney to smash another person against a wall. The demon then goes into a large man who chases after Casey and Mark. He ends up yanking Mark back through a wall, throws him around and repeatedly punches him, with Casey twice jumping on his back and him throwing her off. Mark then uses a large pipe or something similar to hit the man on the head, knocking him out. The demon possess Mark who bashes his head repeatedly to a wall during the transformation, and then grabs Casey by the throat and lifts her off the floor that way. A large insect then starts to crawl from his mouth, allowing Casey to stab a star pendant into his neck. She and Rabbi Sendak then recite prayers that cause Mark's body to be blasted back off a balcony to the floor far below, leaving him bloody (he appears to die from that). Reviewed January 8, 2009 / Posted January 9, 2009

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